Worldwide Biotech Crop Area Set to Almost Double by 2015

Despite opposition to genetically modified crops in Western Europe and elsewhere, farmers continue to increase their plantings of biotech crops at double-digit annual growth rates.

According to a new report from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), biotech crop area grew 12% or 12.3 million hectares in 2007 to reach 114.3 million hectares, the second highest area increase in the past five years.
The ISAAA predicts that by 2015, the number of farmers adopting biotech crops could increase up to tenfold to 100 million, almost doubling the area to over 200 million ha.

According to the group, “the first dozen years of biotech crops have delivered
substantial economic and environmental benefits to farmers in both industrial
countries and developing countries, where millions of poor farmers have also
benefited from social and humanitarian benefits which have contributed to the
alleviation of their poverty.”

In 2007, the number of countries planting biotech crops increased to 23, and comprised 12 developing countries and 11 industrial countries; they were, in order of hectarage, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, China, Paraguay, South Africa, Uruguay, Philippines, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, France, Honduras, Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, Slovakia, Romania and Poland.
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